lexington yesterday

Is this the fog of war? You be the judge. During the French and Indian War, an Indian prophecy declared that George Washington could not be killed in battle. An old chief recalled that Washington fought out in the open with his men. The old warrior reminisced. “Our rifles were leveled, rifles but for him knew not how to miss. T’was all in vain. A power mightier by far than we shielded him from harm. He cannot die in battle. The Great Spirit protects that man and guides his destiny. He will become chief of nations and a people yet unborn will hail him as founder of a mighty nation.”

The vision Washington saw at Valley Forge is recorded in the Library of Congress. Washington wrote the manuscript in the winter of 1777 at Valley Forge.

“This afternoon as I was sitting at this table engaged in preparing a dispatch something seemed to disturb me. Looking up I beheld standing opposite me a singularly beautiful female. So astonished was I that I gave strict orders not to be disturbed. It was some moments before I found language to inquire the cause of her presence. A second and a third, even a fourth time did I repeat my question, but received no answer. . . .

“By this time I felt strange sensations spreading throughout me. My tongue had become useless as though it had become paralyzed. A new influence, mysteriously potent and irresistible took possession of me. Everything about me seemed to rarify the mysterious visitor herself becoming more airy and yet more distinct to my sight than before. I began to feel as one dying. . .

“Presently I heard the voice saying, “Son of the Republic look and learn while at the same time the visitor extended her arm eastwardly. I now beheld a heavy white vapor at some distance that gradually dissipated and I looked at a strange scene.

“Before me lay spread out in one vast plain all countries of the world-Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. I saw rolling and tossing between Europe and America the billows of the Atlantic and between Asia and America the Pacific.”